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Louis Joseph Thomassin violin bow

Catalog ID:
A-VNB/3862

Louis Joseph Thomassin violin bow branded F. N. Voirin À Paris

An important late 19th century French maker from the Thomassin family of archetiers, Louis Joseph Thomassin was born in Mirecourt in 1856 and died in Paris c. 1905. He studied bow making with his uncle, Nicolas François Thomassin (1833 - 1903), alongside his cousins Victor Thomassin (1856 - 1920), and Claude Auguste Thomassin (1865 - 1942) in the Bazin workshop in Mirecourt. In 1872, Louis moved to Paris to work for François Nicolas Voirin until Voirin's sudden death in 1885. Under the direction of Voirin's widow, Louis Thomassin continued making bows stamped with Voirin's name, including the violin bow offered here, before establishing his own business in 1891. Louis Thomassin's bow models closely follow those of Voirin, which were very influential among other French makers of the period. From his independent workshop after 1891, Louis Thomassin made bows stamped with his own name for numerous French ateliers, including Nestor Audinot, Paul Blanchard, Chanot & Chardon, Gand Bernardel frère, and Hippolyte Chrétien Silvestre. This violin bow, branded F. N. Voirin À Paris, is among the bows sometimes referred to as "Voirin de la Veuve," made by Louis Thomassin for Voirin's widow between 1885 and 1891.